Wireless devices play an increasingly important role in everyday life. A “wireless device,” as used herein, means any mobile device that is capable of determining its own location (e.g., using internal hardware/software, by receiving location information from an external device, and/or the like) and is capable of transmitting and/or receiving data on a network (e.g., a wireless network that provides connectivity to the Internet, a cellular network, etc.). Examples of such devices include, without limitation, wireless phones (e.g., phones operating on wireless wide area networks (“WWAN”), such as code division multiple access (“CDMA”) networks and their derivatives, Global System for Mobile Communication (“GSM”) networks and their derivatives, and/or the like; and/or on wireless local area networks (“WLAN”), such as WiFi networks and/or the like), wireless portable computers (e.g., computers, including handheld computers, laptop computers, etc. that can operate on similar wireless networks, etc.), and smartphones, which may combine the features of wireless phones and wireless portable computers. Such wireless devices provide subscribers with mobile connectivity, allowing subscribers not only to communicate when mobile (e.g., via electronic mail, voice calls, etc.), but also providing information to facilitate such communication (e.g., with address books, calendars, etc. that are synchronized with personal computers and/or enterprise platforms).
As subscribers have become accustomed to the convenience and mobility provided by such devices, traditional facilities such as public pay phones and paper directory listings have become relatively scarce, since a wireless subscriber can carry with him both the means to obtain contact information for third parties as well as the means for conducting communication with those third parties. Further, a wireless subscriber can place and receive voice calls in any area in which coverage exists. No longer does a subscriber need to inform contacts of his location in order to receive calls when away from home. (While manual call forwarding can address this issue somewhat, many subscribers have difficulty remembering to activate manual call forwarding and/or remembering the operations required to do so).
Currently, however, mobile devices are not ideal for every communication situation. For example, wireless network quality varies, inter alia, with usage levels and location. In part because of this variance, wireline telephone service (including without limitation Plain Old Telephone System (“POTS”) and other public switched telephone networks (“PSTN”), Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) and other packet switched networks) often is considered by subscribers to have greater reliability and/or call quality in a given location than wireless voice service, which can vary according to network coverage and conditions. Moreover, many wireless service plans charge per-minute usage rates, which renders some subscribers reluctant to use a wireless phone in locations where wireline service is available.